//Count me out of that.//
You can count me out, too, Zacs. I do my own sums, assess my own risk and act accordingly (where I'm permitted to).
But large numbers of the population were scared witless - and many of them still are. I have a 35 year old relative who will near enough not leave the house and will not do so "until it is safe" to do so. I've tried to convince her that it has never been entirely safe to leave your house and never will be. But she's adamant. I've really no idea when - or even if - she will ever go outside again. She has a good job which she is doing at home and it's not helped by her employer telling her to stay there at least until next year.
Here's a passage from a paper prepared by SAGE’s behavioural science sub-group SPI-B, for discussion at SAGE #18 on 23rd March 2020:
"Perceived threat: A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising. Having a good understanding of the risk has been found to be positively
associated with adoption of COVID-19 social distancing measures in Hong Kong. The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging."
It's clear this advice was taken and also clear that no effort to instil "a good understanding of the risk" was made. Some people still do not have any understanding of the risk they face. It's mainly the reason why the country is in the state it's in. People were deliberately frightened into compliance by the government and for many that fright has not left them. It's disgraceful that a government should scare its population when there was no reason to do so other than to secure compliance with unreasonable instructions.